BIG IDEA: “Moving On” from God is hell (in this life and the next). Moving on with God touches heaven. Scripture: 1 Kings 15:1-5, 7-8 (ESV) "Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his fat

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW. Scripture Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)   "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" In Christ, the opportunity for a new beginning is always available. We are not bound by past mistakes or legacies of sin but are offered the chance to start afresh. This transformation affects not only our lives but also the lives of those who come after us. Accordi

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW. Scripture Passage: Matthew 6:33 (NIV)  "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." We all need to learn to seek God’s plan FIRST.  This verse reminds us of the priority our devotion to God should have in our lives. When we seek His kingdom first, everything else falls into place. The single-minded pursuit of God aligns our actions with His will and s

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW. Scripture Passage:  Acts 3:19 (NIV)   "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." The call to repentance is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, emphasizing the importance of turning away from sin and toward God. The act of repentance is not just about acknowledging wrongdoing but about actively choosing a new direction that aligns

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW. Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 14:27-28 (NIV)   "So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace the gold ones and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom." Rehoboam's decision to replace gold shields with bronze signifies an attempt to mai

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW. Scripture Passage:  1 Kings 14:9-10 (NIV)   "You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me. 'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free." Jeroboam’s actions demonstrate how one person's sin c

BIG IDEA: A DISTRACTED LIFE TODAY WILL DAMAGE THE LIVES OF TOMORROW.    Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 11:1-4 (NIV)  "King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, 'You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.' Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred

BIG IDEA for the week:: No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture: 1 Kings 13:4-6   "When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, 'Seize him!' But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign

BIG IDEA for the week:  No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture: 1 Kings 13:11-17   "Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. Their father asked them, 'Which way did he go?' And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. So he sai

BIG IDEA for the week:: No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture: 2 Kings 23:15-17   "Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he

BIG IDEA for the week:  No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture: 1 Kings 13:1-2   "By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: 'Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: “A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the

BIG IDEA for the week:: No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture: 1 Kings 12:28-30   "After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as

BIG IDEA for the week:  No matter how sincere someone might be in "THEIR TRUTH", it should always be weighed against GOD'S TRUTH. Scripture for the day:  1 Kings 11:11-13   "So the LORD said to Solomon, 'Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lif

BIG IDEA for the week:   Divided people are distracted by the surface. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:   "Jeroboam said to himself, 'The kingdom is now likely to revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.'" - 1 Kings 12:26-27 (NIV) Out of fear and insec

BIG IDEA for the week:   Divided people are distracted by the surface.. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:  "Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, 'What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, "Lighten the yoke your father put on us"?’” - 1 Kings 12:8-9 (NIV) Rehoboam’s choice to seek advice from his peers instead of the

BIG IDEA for the week:   Divided people are distracted by the surface. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:   "But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name." - 1 Kings 11:35-36 (NIV) God's sovereignty is evident as He orchestrates the division of the kingdom due to Solomo

BIG IDEA for the week:  Divided people are distracted by the surface. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:   "Jeroboam was a capable man, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph. About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah

This week’s BIG IDEA:   Divided people are distracted by the surface. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:   “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." - 1

This week’s BIG IDEA:  Divided people are distracted by the surface. Devoted people see the heart of the matter. Scripture of the Day:  "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you." - Proverbs 4:23-25 (NIV)   The heart is the wellspring of our being, influencing our thoughts, words, and actions. Solomon urge

BIG IDEA: Distracted men produce a divided people   Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:9   "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." The remedy for a distracted and divided heart is only found through repentance. What exactly is repentance? It is a change of heart and mind that produces a change in your life.  1 John 1:9 pr